WANTED: Dendrobium vannouhuysii

If you find one at a reasonable price let me know! A member that used to post here, Jacob, is selling a piece on eBay. It's at $340 right now...

 

Holy smokes! I was curious what kind of plant could go for $340, so I looked it up. What an underwhelming division.

 

I follow that eBay seller mainly to learn more about cool plants. I never realized it was Jacob this whole time...

 

Haha, his covers blown. I got to check out his collection on a rainy Berkeley evening last month. It was a treat to see all the non orchid species.

 

I don't want to be unkind to anyone who has posted in this thread but I should have a chance to speak out:

I contributed a lot to this forum in the past. Unkind people really soured me on giving so much of my time, writing, photos and energy for free. I have wanted to return to posting and may yet someday, but this thread makes me think the wind is still blowing in the wrong direction.

Wouldn't the world be a more pleasant place if others were slower to judge, glass houses and all that; assuming what other's lives are about is always a mistake.

I'm sure it's better not to have to rely on selling plants as one's sole source of income; it was never my goal but it's what I'm doing currently. Better still it must be for those whose pay-stubs are not posted on the internet for all to see and comment on publicly. I have not advertised my eBay auctions on this site for at least 5 years; I haven't been trying to hide nor am I an attention-seeker.

Those who know this species (or even those who bothered to read the description) will know this is not an unfair price for what it is, let alone for the years of my life invested in it.

The species orchid industry is not what it used to be; I've been growing orchids intermittently since I was 11 years old and I'm 36 now and I've seen a significant constriction. Younger, newer orchid growers are neglected by societies and I care about their sensibilities most because the only way we're going to keep anthropocentric ex situ populations of rare plant species alive is by not allowing the hobby and industry to become unsustainable. However, as someone who was once a neophyte, I definitely didn't understand the value of rare species when I first got into orchids; I used to mock high prices too. Some of these rarities will never pay back the money and life poured into producing them.

What appears as greed may actually be something else entirely.

Lastly, Jacob is not my legal name and only certain friends are allowed to call me that. Ulu is fine, or Uluwehi. I've asked the moderators to change my username since apparently I can't do it myself but today asked for a third time; I hope at least based on my past contributions, my request will be honoured.

 

Jacob, I've always thoroughly enjoyed your contributions to this forum and our intermittent conversations through PM and email. I hope my comments on here weren't taken as offensive to you.

Your eBay auction posts are almost as informative as your posts here were, and I enjoy reading those just as much. I can't afford most of what you post, but I can appreciate the wonderful collection that you have. I must say I may be most impressed by your blueberry collection. I've taken a liking to Ericad species lately, and you seem to have a very nice selection.

 

Thank you, Zach. I definitely appreciate what you said and I've always enjoyed my interactions with you too. I should be clear that I don't feel negative towards anyone who posted in this thread, but this is an issue that's been coming up the more often I sell rare/expensive things, I get more emails from anonymous people on eBay being pretty rude.

Many people around the world could not afford the price of their own houses if they were to buy them today. I couldn't afford to buy my own plants today. If my monthly astronomical utility bills and student loans were posted side by side with my auctions for all to see...

 

Thank you, Kelly, not only for your thoughtful response but also for your tireless volunteer effort in helping this forum become a more civil, positive space for orchid enthusiasts. Marni has told me that the forum has gotten so much better but my life has gotten too hectic and the last time I felt compelled to return to comment in years was to in fact to defend a lovely friend who was being savagely insulted by a notoriously previous poster (that thread was deleted for good reason). I'm glad these negative things don't happen so often.

I'm not directly offended, just that to me these commentaries that insinuate greed on the part of sellers are a touch too close to character dismissal and since this forum is a space where I have more public visibility than probably anywhere on the internet, I felt the need to speak up for myself.

Because this post was brought to my attention, I logged in for the first time in a while. The previous two times I requested that my user name be changed (something that used to be readily accessible in years past, and on other online fora is still commonplace), I was using the Help/Contact Moderator function for my request but never received a response. Before posting today, it occurred to me that I should contact Brent directly through the Conversations function of the site. I didn't intend to put him on the spot without lead time to respond, but since I don't post here often and it was my third attempt I figured I might as well say something; I wasn't sure why I'd not heard back.

Apparently there is an issue with the messages getting through. I was perplexed as to why this would have ever been an issue, but happy to know that it was a glitch hopefully soon fixed

 

Thanks, Kelly. Uluwehi should be fine

What you said about the Help function is helpful to know (puns abound...). I suppose "help" must refer to functions of the software only and not other issues; I assumed that this was a portal to the moderator, otherwise I would have just contacted you directly. This may be helpful to others if they've not received responses using the Help function.

I appreciate your opinion too.

 

Uluwehi, I'm so deeply sorry to have offended you. Please believe me that this wasn't my intention. I was simply surprised by the cost of the plant. I know nothing about the species and to me it truly looked like a stick! I was not insinuating greed on your part, the thought never occurred to me; I was just amazed that a plant could be worth so much! I am sure it's a fair price, I never doubted that.
I hope you will not see my comment as a reflection of the whole forum.

 

Hi TheKellyLove, please don't feel bad; I would definitely feel sad if you or anyone in this thread felt hurt by what I posted here (the opposite of my intention) especially to any enthusiastic newer and/younger members of the forum; the orchid world is too small to splinter any further and you are the future!

I wasn't offended or hurt, rather I needed to say something in general terms about the issue because I wanted to have a say. Tone is really hard to convey via internet postings: in person I'm a smiley person but without that, perhaps my tone comes across differently without visual language to go along with it. It's socially fraught to straddle the world between consumer and vendor in such a small pool, especially when selling rare stuff.

I'm still learning. The internet is so different than a conversation in person, at the very least because what is said about us or by us is there for all to see in perpetuity. I think many people have enough challenges feeling understood by others in person, but on the internet I think it's much harder.

I hope I've covered the issue enough and that no one else feels insulted or feels it necessary to apologise. The future of horticulture as a viable subculture and community is important to me. I love plants because ultimately the joy of growing them can be multiplied on and on, but rare things often enter the market at a premium for justifiable reasons. When I started growing, I could not believe the 5-figure prices for some Cattleya species; now some of the same species can be had for $8, the very opposite.